The Business Of Basketball

Last season was a rousing success for the National Basketball Association. The league's two marquee teams, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, met in the finals, and television ratings soared 51% over the prior year. The league's two biggest stars, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, were on winning teams and getting a lot of prime-time exposure, wowing fans and sponsors.

League-wide revenues hit a record $3.8 billion during the 2007-08 season, 6% more than the prior campaign, and the average team posted a profit (in the sense of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $10.6 million, the highest amount since Forbes began tracking NBA finances 10 years ago.
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